Pakistani man charged with plotting terrorist attack against Jews in New York on October 7 anniversary

(CNN) — The Justice Department has charged a Pakistani national with allegedly plotting to attack Jews in New York on the anniversary of the October 7 terror attacks in Israel.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, was going to carry out the attack in support of ISIS, prosecutors allege, and told an undercover agent he wanted to target New York because it has the “largest Jewish population in America.”

Khan is charged with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization. He was arrested on Wednesday in Canada. The charges were unsealed Friday.

“The defendant is alleged to have planned a terrorist attack in New York City around October 7th of this year with the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement, adding that “Jewish communities — like all communities in this country — should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fueled terrorist attack.”

In November 2023, Khan, who lives in Canada, began allegedly discussing his support for ISIS on an encrypted messaging application with two people who, unbeknownst to him, were undercover law enforcement officers. Khan told the officers that he was trying to create “a real offline cell” of ISIS that would target Jewish institutions around an unnamed city, according to court documents, and instructed the officers to buy firearms for those attacks.

Khan allegedly told the officers that he wanted to carry out the attacks on either October 7 or 11, because “oct 7 they will surely have some protests and oct 11 is yom.kippur,” a major Jewish holiday.

By August of this year, prosecutors allege, Khan decided that he wanted to carry out the attacks at a Jewish center in Brooklyn.

It is easy to “target jews” in New York because of the large Jewish population, he allegedly told the undercover officers, adding that “even if we dont attack a[n] Event[,] we could rack up easily a lot of jews.” Once he decided on the location of the attack, Khan allegedly paid a human smuggler to help him cross the border into the United States.

On September 4, Khan allegedly used three separate cars as he tried to cross Canada and enter the United States. He was stopped approximately 12 miles from the US-Canada border, according to the Justice Department.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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